While looking up links for last week’s post I came across a link to Adjagas. Of course I couldn’t resist a listen and was hooked instantly. As soon as the CD arrived it was ripped to my PC and I have listened to it almost constantly ever since! I have uploaded the whole album and, apart from the 2nd track Dolgematki, love it. It’s not even that I dislike that track but rather that I feel it jangles with the mood set by the rest of the album.
Adjagas is a state between sleeping and waking. It is where you get in touch with issues and messages that are important to you. It is also said that the Sami learned yoiking from the ulda people that live in another world parallel to our own, in the Adjagas state of mind. Adjagas is a celebration of the ancient art of yoiking and a search for what the future will bring…
Lihkolas: This is a typical yoik for the area of the Deatnu/Tana River on the border of Norway and Finland. It is about those days when you feel that everything is caressing you and you feel happiness.
Dolgematki: This yoik is about breaking loose from situations that tie you down. Spread your wings and fly.
Mun Ja Mun: This is a typical South Sami style yoik. The South Sami have a very different culture to the North Sami. It is a culture under pressure, where hardly anybody yoiks in the traditional way, and less than 300 people speak the South Sami language. The title means “I and I” and it means we. It is a yoik to the South Sami, in their honour.
Rievdadeapmi: This is a yoik from the Deatnu yoiking style.
Guoros Fatnasat: The modern style of yoik from Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino.
Siivu: Siivu is a typical Deatnu yoik. It has a very distinct melody that makes it easily recognisable as a deatnu yoik. This yoik was made in January and it happened in May.
Ozan: With all the craziness in the world it is natural to seek sanctuary somewhere. This is a Deatnu yoik about the serach for tranquility in the midst of chaos.
Lavvu Vuovvdis: The people who live in a lavvu, the traditional tent of the Sami people, know that it is customary to put up the lavvu at a height that has a good view for herding reindeer. The person in this yoik has put the lavvu up in a forest, which seems odd. But it is really not that odd because this certain person has gone mad and is reflecting on why and how he has found himself in this situation. This yoik has a rather modern style from Guovdageaidnu.
Suvvi Ijat: The Suvvi Ijat are three (though some people say nine) nights in the middle of April that, according to traditional Sami beliefs, can be used for predicting the weather for the following spring and summer. The weather of the first night predicts the weather for the whole forthcoming week, and the weather on the second night predicts the weather for the week after that, and so on. We were surprised when we discovered that all our yoiks and lyrics were connected together. This last yoik is a summary of the whole recording.
Lave Niiga: Bonus track, traditional.
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